


A Long Year (HIATUS)

by The_shiny_sylveon



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Bad at titles, F/M, Firelord Zuko, Ozai Society shenanigans, Should be finished unless I die a horrid death, Uploaded on mobile, Zuki, Zuko life-changing field trip time, god I love bodyguard/royalty ships, hopefully by french guillotine, mild kataang, mild tokka, my debut!, post-comic, sorry about any weird formatting, technically some OC but like they’re not important at all
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:00:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27864202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_shiny_sylveon/pseuds/The_shiny_sylveon
Summary: The Firelord’s most trusted guard had been missing for a year. It’s been an arduous year without her, but the worst is when he has to pack up her room and accept that she’s gone. But when Zuko finds a note, he realizes-hope may not be gone yet. But wherever she is, trouble tends to follow. Big trouble. (Chapter 2 is up!!!)
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Suki/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic! Maybe I should have started with a more popular ship, but what can I say? I’m a simp for bodyguard ships. (Cough, zelink, cough). Frustratingly, I had to upload on mobile and that’s mildly difficult to do. Hopefully that doesn’t affect anything too much. I hope you enjoy!

_It’s been a long year…_  
  
Firelord Zuko brushed his fingers along the lacquered mahogany railings of the balcony. The sun hadn’t risen but the faint light in the eastern sky promised it would soon. The early September air was cool, but still held the lingering warmth of summer without the oppressive heat that august had brought. In the year that the balcony had stood untouched, bamboo leaves and other natural debris had found their way into the corners. The scent of nighttime rain mingled with that of the decaying plant life.  
  
It had been similar that day, too, Zuko remembered. He had walked to her room around 5:30 AM, and he remembered not seeing her and walking out to see if she was on the balcony. Much like it had been then, the room was empty. There had been no notes, no sign of a struggle. Zuko was dragged back to the present as he heard someone knock on the door to the room. He left the balcony, savoring the last breath of the morning air as he gently slid the screen door slut behind him, feeling as if he were still stuck in time a year ago, just realizing something was very, very wrong.  
  
Her room had been left unchanged, as were his orders to cleaning staff. He wanted her to have everything where she left it when she returned. Everyone else was always stuck on _if. If_ she would return. _If_ she was safe. _If_ she was alive. Zuko never focused on the _‘if’s._ It was always ‘ _when_ ’.  
  
He took one last look around the room. Her fans and katana were on the floor. Her guard uniform was draped over the back of a chair. The door to her closet was slightly ajar, a couple drawers were open, and her makeup was littered about her vanity. Her bed was hastily made, with lopsided pillows and the sheets and quilt spread out unevenly, one side touching the floor and the other barely on the bed. There were little paper stars strewn about. He remembered she’d tried to teach him how to make them out of long, thin strips of paper, but he’d never gotten the hang of it.  
  
Zuko stepped over some books on his way to the door. He couldn’t tell if the doorknob was cold or if it was his own hands that were icy.  
  
Aang stood in the doorway and nodded his head in silent greeting. Zuko nodded back, not sure what to say. He wasn’t even sure there was anything to say. ‘I’m sorry’ didn’t mean anything. ‘it’ll be okay’ sounded empty. Besides, he was pretty sure he was the one who needed the reassurance.  
  
Aang held a couple folded boxes under his arms. Zuko knew this day had been coming- the day they packed her stuff up. Aang apologetically set up the boxes. The silence would have been uncomfortable, but Zuko found discomfort to be the last of his worries.  
  
After a few moments of setting up boxes, Aang took a deep breath.  
  
“You know, Katara, Sokka and I are going to the pond later if you want to join. We’re going to feed the turtleducks and beetle-carp.”  
  
“I’d love to,” Zuko said, though there was little truth behind it. His voice sounded strange to himself. He started to gently place things in the boxes, Aang working beside him. The shirt Ty Lee had given her. A couple books he’d never heard of. More hairties than he could count. Aang’s eyes were sad as he held up a few crystals from her collection. Amethyst, Zuko remembered. Suki had tried to tell him about some of them, but he could never remember which was which.  
  
Zuko’s fingers lingered across the engravings on one of her daggers. “How is Sokka?”  
  
Aang frowned. “About as well as to be expected, I guess. He still blames himself about it.”  
  
“Why? She’s the one who broke up with him.”  
  
“Yeah, but think about it. They break up and she goes missing later? It’s understandable. You know, they may have been apart for over half a year when she… left, but I heard they had a fight about a week before, you know. This,” he finished, flimsily waving his hand about.  
  
“Do we know what it was about? Nothing related, right?”  
  
“Yeah, nothing that would warrant something like this. Sokka said it was over something stupid. I think he was teasing her about rumors he’d overheard and she got mad at him for believing them or something.” Zuko could tell Aang was leaving something out, and he had a pretty good idea of what it was. After all, he was no stranger to the maid’s loose lips and gossip. He remembered about a year and a half ago, how his and Suki’s combat training sessions would always gather attention. After deciding that firebending in a wooden dojo wasn’t the best idea, they’d moved it out into the courtyard. He remembered how some of the staff would take a break to watch the matches and root for whoever they thought would win. He felt a bittersweet tinge of pride as he recalled winning about half of the matches, though that was with his firebending against her weapons. He remembered the last match they’d had.

* * *

  


_“Come on, Zuko! Firebend like your life depends on it!”_  
  
_“I’m trying, but I- ow!”_  
  
_Toph cackled gleefully as she chucked another watermelon at him, hitting the back of his head. As he wiped the watermelon out of his eyes, Suki dashed behind him, getting in a hit with the dull edge of her blade. If it was a real fight, she’d have left a nasty wound instead of a bruise._  
  
_“Remember, there’ll always be distractions! You’ve got to be ready for things flying at you from all directions!” Suki yelled. As if to prove her point, a shoe hit Zuko’s leg. He picked it up and tossed it back to Sokka, along with a couple choice words of where to put it-none of which included his foot._  
  
_He looked over at Suki, who had her dagger in one hand and her shield in the other. Her warriors sat in the sidelines, jeering and calling Zuko names. Zuko barely jumped out of the way as she charged forwards, shield raised._  
  
_He shot a burst of flame, but subconsciously subverted it away from her at the last moment._  
  
_“Oh, come on, pretty boy!” she yelled. “You didn’t even **try** to hit me with that!”_  
  
_He grabbed one of his Dao swords and blocked a jab from her dagger and ducked as she tried to hit him with her shield. “You think I’m pretty?” he taunted, kicking her shield out of her hand. It clattered against the stone underfoot. He heard some whistles from the sidelines, but ignored them._  
  
_“Absolutely breathtaking! Now, come on and fight like you mean it!” More whistles. She suddenly fell low to the ground, dashing around to behind him. Zuko tried to turn, but her dagger was pointing to his throat before he could get away. He could feel her breathing heavily on the back of his neck. Despite the heat of the midday sun, he felt chills run down his spine._  
  
_“Looks like I win again,” She said, dropping her dagger and sitting on the ground, catching her breath. After a moment, she stood up, got her shield and dagger, and asked, “Who’s fighting him next?”_

* * *

  
  
  
“Hey… Zuko?”  
  
He was ripped out of his memories as Aang spoke.  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“I… I think I found something for you.”  
  
Zuko frowned. He couldn’t imagine what Aang could be talking about. But as he walked towards Aang, he saw something in his hand. A dark red envelope. There wasn’t the characteristic layer of dust that covered everything else in the room; this looked almost new. His hands shook slightly as he took it from Aang and opened it, careful not to tear the precisely folded paper.  
  
“Dear- Dear Zuko..” His voice faltered. He knew that handwriting. He had half thought it was a mistake, perhaps written by an advisor and then maybe dropped off by a confused, lock-picking messenger hawk, perhaps, but no. It was her handwriting. He shook his head and kept reading. _Might as well see what it says before I get too hopeful._  
  
Aang looked to be somewhere between hopeful, concerned, and curious as he peered over Zuko’s shoulder.  
  
“ _Dear Zuko,_  
  
_It’s been a long time. I hope you’re well! I am. I apologize for my sudden departure… unforeseen circumstances… writing to apologize… don’t try to find me… happier here in_ -Aang, write this down- Cinnabar island?…” His eyes trailed along the rest of the paper and he frowned as he mumbled some of the words.  
  
“Something’s off about this.”  
  
“What do you mean? Can I see it?” Aang asked. Zuko handed the paper to Aang, and looked around the rest of the room. Everything else seemed to be normal…

“Zuko, what’s off about it?”  
  
Zuko tore his eyes away from scanning the room for anything off. “It’s-this sounds stupid, because it’s in her handwriting, but it’s stiff and formal, as if she barely knew me. Plus, it’s from the girl who hijacked an airship with no plan. She’s impulsive. If she wanted us to know she was okay, she’d have sent this after, like, a week. Do you know where Cinnabar island is? I’ve never heard of it, but it sounds like it would be in the fire nation…”  
  
Aang frowned. “Actually, yeah- but I think it was called something else back in my day. It was a volcanic island then- I think it may be the same one your grandpa-I? Uh, Roku tried to stop.” It was still weird to think about that- how the sixteen year old was older than just about everyone and was also his grandpa. Zuko tried not to think about it too hard.  
  
“Where is it?”  
  
“Somewhere in the south. But, Zuko, you realize this is probably a trap of some sort?”  
  
“Of course it’s a trap. But you know what this means, right?”  
  
Aang nodded. “She could be alive.”  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so it has come to my attention that there’s a slight inconsistency with the show regarding the volcanic island Roku fought and the way I wrote it here. I’m not sure anyone would’ve noticed, but basically I portray it as if the Gaang doesn’t know where the island is despite having visited it before. It’s also called crescent island and I wrote it as cinnabar island originally. I had a very hard time trying to rewrite the scene to fit the canon narrative, so I figured it was a minor-enough inconsistency that I could keep it. Just read this as if it were not, in fact, the same island with the volcano Roku fought. Hope that’s okay with everyone! TL;DR- it’s been too long since I’ve seen Avatar and I forget stuff.

Katara was arranging flowers by the pond. Her eyes were a little puffy. Sokka was sitting alone at the far end of the courtyard, and Toph was sitting with her feet in the water. Zuko cleared his throat. Katara looked up at him and Aang.

“Hey. Doing ok?” She asked, concern in her eyes. Zuko nodded as Aang spoke.

“We found something…interesting.”

Toph waved Sokka over. Katara coughed. “Sokka’s not facing us.”

“Oh, oops. HEY, SOKKA!” Zuko covered his ears as she yelled. He wasn’t sure how such a tiny girl could make so much noise.

“What is it?” Sokka dragged his feet over. Zuko noticed that his eyes were also red and puffy. It was odd-maybe it was just the fact that Zuko didn’t exactly excel in people skills, but he had thought that it seemed as if everyone else had processed and moved on from it a while ago. Of course, it wasn’t easy for anyone, but… well, truth be told, everyone else seemed much better at holding it together than him. He remembered being pretty much unable to function the first month. But as he looked around the rather morose gathering of his friends, he saw how much it weighed on everyone.  
  


He was pretty sure his council hadn’t helped the mood, though. He had been very reluctant to keep the same council as his father, but it had actually been Suki who mentioned that their experience would be valuable and difficult to replace. She’d pointed out that if any of them still leaned towards his father’s policies, Zuko could just take it from there. But until that happened, it may be best to assume innocence. Which made sense- from what Zuko could remember, his father hadn’t listened to the council anyways. Besides, Suki had always had a knack for the political side of things. He’d almost joked to her once that maybe she ought to be Fire Lady to help with the politics. Almost. Before his stupid brain reminded him that that was basically proposing to her.

But then the council gave the one year deadline. One year until they pronounced her dead. What a way to try and kill his hope. He’d had half a mind to remind them that she was the single reason that they were still employed, but at the time, he had no fight left. No fight, no energy, nothing. A feeling that hadn’t left until he found the note.

Looking around at his friends, he knew he had to tell them. It would help the mood for one, but he also itched to get to searching as soon as possible. Though he knew he would go with or without support, it would be helpful if he had the whole gang with him.

“Well, Zuko and I found a note.” Aang let the gang read it, passing it around. For whatever reason, Zuko didn’t like their eyes on it. Part of him wanted to take the note, possibly the last thing she had sent, and just look at her handwriting. How she curved her Y’s and how she connected the letters in some places but left them apart in others. How she wrote his name. Her messy signature, almost illegible to those who didn’t know it. 

Sokka’s expression was somewhere between cautious hope and hopeless dread. Toph-hard to read as ever. But Katara just knit her eyebrows in worry as she skimmed the letter. “That’s obviously a trap. The new Ozai society is still out there, Zuko. I know you want her to be okay, we all do, but-“

“You don’t get it, Katara! If there’s a chance she’s still out there somewhere, I’m not going to sit around and ignore it!” Usually Zuko would feel bad for snapping at Katara, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care much.

Sokka stood up, his eyes steely and determined. “I’m with Zuko. You guys can come with us or stay here, but you aren’t stopping us,” he said, uncharacteristically serious. Zuko was relieved that at least Sokka was coming with- he had proved time and time again to be a valuable member of the team. Though a small, traitorous part of his mind was not happy that Suki’s ex was coming with. He mentally kicked himself and shoved that thought aside.

Katara rolled her eyes and started checking the straps on Appa’s saddle, making sure they were tight and secure like she always did before a flight. “If you guys would  _ listen _ and not _ interrupt me _ , you’d know that I’m not trying to stop you, I’m telling you to be careful and that I’m coming with.”

“Katara…”

“Hey, don’t get mushy on me. I’m a little insulted you thought I  wouldn’t come. Toph, you coming with?”

The blind earthbender stood up, shaking the water from her feet. “Well, care to tell me what it says?”

Aang fumbled around, unfurling the paper. “Oh, sorry. Um, basically Suki wrote a note to Zuko and said she’s at some island. We’re gonna go try to find her. Coming with?”

  
“No way are you guys going on a kickass rescue mission without me. Someone needs to be there to save your sorry butts.” Toph smiled at all of them. Despite everything, Zuko found a small smile tugging at the edge of his lips, too. It was small, but the first one in what felt like a very long time.

* * *

“See anything yet?”

“No, Toph. We’ll let you know.”

Toph jutted out her chin unhappily as she sat near the edge of the saddle, arm outstretched, feeling the wind. Katara sighed and looked behind her. She half expected to see a fire nation balloon following them. She’d tried to tell Zuko that maybe just leaving a note saying he’d “be back eventually” wasn’t his greatest idea and that he should clear his schedule for the foreseeable future, but he wasn’t having it. She recalled that he said it would take too much time and that they should leave immediately. She had thought of bringing up that he had no idea how long the letter was in her room and that another hour wouldn’t hurt, but he wasn’t having it. She found herself wondering if he’d have acted the same if anyone else had gone missing, though she knew that wasn’t a very nice thing to think about.

Of course, she was worried out of her mind and wanted to search as soon as possible. But…Zuko had been different in the past year. Nobody had taken it well, least of all Sokka, but that was to be expected. Truth be told, Katara hadn’t even known Zuko and Suki were much more than coworkers, in a sense. Though perhaps that was due to the time she spent at the south pole, rebuilding some of the damage done from the war. She’d truly enjoyed the time spent with her family, even if she felt guilty that she and Sokka were away from their friends.

But I haven’t been the only one , she reflected. Aang had spent a lot of time with her at the pole, but had also hopped from nation to nation, spending a lot of time helping Zuko establish stability in the fire nation. Toph had started a metalbending academy, teaching students the new style of bending. Though, from what Katara had heard, it was less of an academy and more of a bootcamp. And Zuko and Suki had been at the palace. It made sense, now that she thought about it. With her as his bodyguard, they spent a lot of time together- naturally, they’d likely be close friends. Though Katara was starting to have her own suspicions about it…

“It’s been  _ forever _ ,” Toph complained, snapping Katara out of her thoughts. Sokka rolled his eyes.

“It’s been, like, half a day.”

“Exactly! Where are we, anyways?”

Katara looked around, but she didn’t really have an answer to the question. Below them was an archipelago of islands, but none looked very volcanic. Mostly they were just full of trees, though the occasional island held a few houses. 

“Hey, sweetie, we  _ do _ know where we’re going, right?”

“Yep. Well, mostly. Kind of.”

Sokka groaned. “This is useless. Let’s just land and ask around, see if anyone’s noticed recent fire nation activity. I mean, it must be kind of hard to miss a cult inhabiting an island, right?”

Aang frowned, but nodded and steered Appa down towards the nearest of the islands, one with several huts and even what looked like a marketplace. Katara could see several people dressed in red as they got closer, though. She looked over and noticed Zuko frowning at them- which was probably the first emotion he’d shown the whole trip. He’d been nothing but brooding and quiet the whole time. It was one of the things that still annoyed Katara about him- though he was still one of her best friends. She was a huge advocate for speaking out your problems, but Zuko seemed to hold everything in, like a bucket slowly filling with raindrops until it overflowed.

“We should be careful. Those guys there could be society members,” she said, pointing to the small group. The group nodded in response. If Katara had seen them earlier, she’d have said maybe they should try to stay hidden, but there wasn’t much of a point when what looked like the whole town was screaming and pointing at the quickly descending ten-ton bison in the sky. Any chance of stealth had been violently kicked in the face and shoved in the mud.

Aang got his glider and flew down to the ground, where a few people had grabbed swords and crude wooden shields. “It’s okay! We come in peace!”

Appa landed, bellowing at a villager holding a wooden spear. The villager promptly dropped his spear and ran behind a building.  _ Hmm, these people don’t seem to be much of fighters, _ Katara thought to herself. Getting off of the saddle and onto hard, solid ground, she shot a warning glance at an approaching man. Sokka, Toph, and Zuko followed closely, Zuko pulling his plain black hood over his scarred side, perhaps subconsciously. Toph’s eyebrows were knit, no doubt focusing on taking everything in.

An old lady clad in a dark red dress shuffled forwards. Katara groaned inwardly-creepy old ladies weren’t her favorite people.

_ Never know when one of them is a bloodbending sociopath. _

“State your business here,” she said, eyeing them just as warily as Katara felt. Katara tried to shoot a subtle warning look at her friends \- let me handle this- but Toph cut her off.

“Official Avatar business, lady. And you, with the sword-“ A villager that had been slowly stepping closer to their backs stiffened- “I’m gonna have to ask you to back off. I’m always down for a good fight, but I’m a little busy right now.” 

The woman’s expression was unreadable. Katara took the pregnant pause to survey their surroundings- if these people were Society members, it hadn’t treated them very well. Clothes had holes in them, spears and swords were dull and muddy, and arms and legs were thin all around. They lived in straw huts that looked collapsible- If Katara remembered correctly, the southern Fire Nation was hit by monsoons pretty hard. Maybe the houses were made to move further inland during the rain season?

The more she looked, the more she saw that eased her nerves. Children played inside huts, some of the knives people held had fish scales stuck to them rather than bloodstains, and though the air was somewhat hostile, Katara felt less in danger. This seemed like a normal fishing village, kind of like Kyoshi had been.

_ If Suki is here… I wonder if it reminds her of Kyoshi Island. _

The woman finally spoke. It was clear she held authority over the other villagers-any muttering stopped as soon as she merely opened her mouth to speak.

“Well, it seems we have much to speak about. I have a feeling the spirits meant for you to come to us- after all, who better than the Fire Lord to help us?” She asked, a skew glance directed at Zuko. He tensed, visibly uncomfortable. Surprisingly, it was Sokka who put a hand on his shoulder in… caution? Consolation? He set his eyes on the woman.

“Just tell us what’s going on around here.” 

“Why don’t we go to my house and talk there? After all, dinner is almost ready.” And with that, she turned and started to slowly walk off, leaving no choice but for the group to follow as the villagers dispersed.


End file.
